124265 KO Critical Media Analysis (2020W)

This CMA class puts focus on masculinity practices they way they appear in superhero narratives. Its object of study are both superhero comics and their adaptations to the movie screen. Through the lens of gender, masculinity and queer studies these texts are discussed and investigated, asking the question; do superhero narratives democratize masculinity practices? Do they uphold old patriarchal modes of masculinity or do they subvert ideas and images about ‘doing’ masculinity?
Masculinity as a gender practice is best understood as ‘a vague set of ideas, demands, stories and images about being a man’. Sociologist Raewyn Connell clarifies that “no masculinity arises except in a system of gender relations”(Connell, 1995). She identifies a hierarchy of masculinities: from its hegemonic version to its complicit, subordinate and marginalized varieties. Straight, white men usually occupy the hegemonic position whereas gay men have to content themselves with the subordinate and men of color with the marginalized position.
How do superhero narratives fit into these hierarchies? Given the overwhelming number of white male superheroes when compared to superheroes of color, or the small number of LGBTQ superheroes, it appears safe to identify this particular narrative genre as old-fashioned and sometimes even downright masculinist. But to stop at this assumption is to deny the changes and the progress this genre has made since its inception in the late 1930s. The aim of this CMA course is to take inventory of the genre as it currently presents itself to diverse audiences. This will be done by first looking at very early comics stories introducing what are now famous Marvel Comics superheroes like Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther and the Falcon. Then follows a thorough look at recent movie adaptations introducing and featuring the same characters.